The airport welcomed 56.5 million passengers and handled
352,000 aircraft movements last year, growth of about 5 percent
for each, according to a press release today. Freight shipments
rose 2.2 percent to 4 million tons, it said. The airport also
reported a one-month record 30,800 flight movements in December.

“Despite the challenging global economic environment,
regional economic growth continued to drive traffic increases,”
Stanley Hui Hon-chung, chief executive of the city’s Airport
Authority, said in the release. “This past year we welcomed
nine new airlines and expanded our global network to about 170
destinations.”

Limousine and coach traffic between the airport and Pearl
River Delta destinations swelled 3.5 percent to more than 1.9
million passengers, while ferries carried 2.6 million travelers,
an increase of 8 percent, according to the release.